Pretty Tragedy
by SeddieLUV
Summary: What if things had ended very differently in 1x01? What if someone hadn't made it out alive? Callie has a lot of scars that need healing, and Brandon's willing to try.
1. Chapter 1

**I ship Callie and Brandon so much! This idea came to me while I was re-watching the pilot episode. Not sure if it will be a one-shot yet. Depends on the feedback I get! Hope you guys like it! **

No amount of alcohol can wash his name from my mouth.

_Jude._

I see him every time I close my eyes. Lying in a pool of blood. So small. So innocent. So undeserving of death. And it's all my fault.

"_Just let me talk to Jude for one second!" I begged, inching toward my brother, who stood frozen by the sink. "Look, I'm sorry about your car-"_

"_Get the hell out of my home!" my foster dad yelled. He aimed the gun at my head. "I swear to God I'll kill you, you worthless bitch." _

"_No, don't shoot her!" Brandon shouted. My foster dad turned around and pointed the gun at Brandon while I grabbed Jude into my arms and shielded him with my body. Oh God, Brandon was going to die because of me. Why didn't he just go to his stupid piano concert? He doesn't even know me! Why should he care if I die? _

"_Shut up, kid!"_

_Jude wrapped his thin arms around my waist and looked up at me with tears in his eyes. "I'm scared, Callie," he whispered. _

"_We're gonna be fine," I told him. "I promise, Jude." _

_But I'd broken my promise. _

"_Leave him alone!" I screamed, praying I could distract him long enough for Brandon to get away. "I'm the one who beat the crap out of your stupid truck!"_

"_You should have stayed in Juvy, bitch." He laughed as he aimed the gun at my head. His finger tightened on the trigger. _

_This was it. I was going to die. "Close your eyes, Jude," I whispered. "Don't watch." _

_A gunshot went off. _

_Jude crumpled to the floor, a bullet in his brain. My foster dad stood over his body and laughed until Stef burst into the house and shot him twice in the chest. _

_He still had a smile on his face. _

I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Brandon.

"I wanted to check on you," he said. He sat down beside me on my bed. "I was worried about you, Cal."

I took a long drink from the bottle. It burned my throat like acid. "How sweet of you," I muttered.

"Are you okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm _great! _I kind of wish my brother wasn't _dead, _but other than that I'm awesome."

Brandon sighed. "Yeah, that was a stupid question." He put his hand on my knee and smiled sadly at me. He noticed the bottle in my hand. "Are you _drunk?"_

I laughed and handed the bottle to him. "Maybe. Want a drink?"

"You know my mom's a cop, right?"

"Don't you ever break the rules? Do something bad for once? Stef doesn't have to know."

Brandon gently took the bottle from me and set it on the dresser. "I think you've had enough to drink. You should get some sleep."

Sleeping meant nightmares. Nightmares meant reliving Jude's death over and over again.

"You know, beds are good for other activities…" I slid my hand up his thigh.

Brandon laughed nervously and removed my hand. "Um…Callie, I know you're hurting. I miss Jude too. But _this _would be a…mistake."

I frowned. "Look, I know I'm not Talya, but I really don't want to be alone tonight."

"And I don't want you to be alone! Where's Mariana? This is her room too."

"She's sleeping over at Lexi's house."

I stood up and almost fell over. Maybe I did have too much to drink. Stef was going to be so mad. I'll probably get sent back to Juvy. Whatever. Jude doesn't need me to protect him anymore.

Brandon grabbed my arm and pulled me back down onto the bed. "Don't fall over, Cal," he teased me, smiling. His bright blue eyes sparkled. He tucked a strand of my dark hair behind my ear.

And then he was kissing me. His lips crashed against mine and my hands tangled in his hair. We fell onto the bed together.

Brandon lifted my shirt to uncover my stomach. He ran his hands over the scars where my foster dad had kicked me in the stomach. "So beautiful," he whispered, kissing the ugly bruises.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all your reviews! I'm not sure how many chapters I'll write, but it's going to be a wild ride. And how amazing was the promo for "Quinceanera"! Brallie feels! 3 And I'm dying to learn more about Liam! Hopefully this makes waiting until Monday a little easier. **

"Oh my God!"

I opened my eyes and looked around the room. The room was still dark, which meant the sun wasn't even up yet. Who was screaming at me so early in the morning?

Mariana covered her eyes with her hands. "_Dios! _I'm gone for one night, and you two have wild animal sex _on my bed?" _Mariana turned and ran from the room. Great. She was probably going to tell Stef or Lena.

"What? No! It's not like that!" Brandon frantically tried to follow her but he got tangled up in the sheets. He fell to the floor with a hard thud. "Mariana, wait! I can explain!"

I watched him chase Mariana out of our room, smiling to myself. The way his dark curls fell over his eyes was seriously cute.

I jumped out of bed to follow them, and immediately wished I hadn't. My vision blurred and my stomach lurched. Oh, crap.

I barely made it to the bathroom in time before I was violently sick. The alcohol burned twice as bad coming back up. I was trembling and sweating when I finally got it all out of my system.

"Callie?" Brandon called out as he came back into my room. His eyes widened in alarm when he saw me kneeling in front of the toilet. "Oh my God."

"I'm fine," I croaked weakly. "Just a little hung over."

Brandon sat next to me on the bathroom floor and held my hair back while I vomited. "Want me to get my moms?"

I shook my head. "Hell no. If they find out I was drinking in their home, they'll send me back to Juvy. Or worse."

"They wouldn't do that to you. They care about you, Callie."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Even after I slept with their oldest son?"

Brandon's face turned red and he looked away from me. "We weren't thinking clearly," he said quietly.

"Duh. I was under the influence. What's your excuse?"

Brandon met my gaze for a moment, and my stomach twisted. "We didn't go all the way. I wouldn't take advantage of you like that while you were drunk. But we did sleep…together. You've just been so sad ever since that night. I hated seeing you like that."

"I can't imagine this version of me is any better."

Brandon tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and smirked. "You don't look so bad, Cal."

"Liar," I said, sticking my tongue out at him. I was puking on the bathroom floor with my head in the toilet at the crack of dawn. No teenage boy could possibly find this attractive.

Someone banged on the door suddenly. "Callie! Brandon! Moms made pancakes for breakfast!" Jesus shouted. "Hey, what are you two doing in there?"

"I'm brushing my teeth!" Brandon stammered.

I wiped my mouth off with my sleeve. "And I'm…helping him brush his teeth!"

"Well, hurry up!" Jesus yelled. "I'm starving. I may not be able to control myself. I can't promise there will be any pancakes left."

Brandon grinned at me. "He's not kidding."

**X**

Mariana didn't talk during breakfast. I kept waiting for her to tell Lena or Stef about our "wild animal sex" but she ate her pancakes in silence. I still didn't trust her. We shared a room, but we weren't exactly friends. She was probably waiting for the right moment.

Would the Fosters still kick me out? I didn't _sleep _with Brandon…but I did sleep _with _Brandon. He was just trying to comfort me. Stef and Lena wouldn't believe me anyway. They thought I sold Jesus's pills at school. I was an easy target.

"So," I said after everyone finished eating. I was helping Stef wash the dishes. I didn't mind doing chores. All my foster homes had made me do chores. I was used to it. "How's Tyler doing?"

Stef froze. "Your foster dad? Don't worry about him. He's not a threat anymore."

I tried to act casual. "I'm not worried he's going to come after me," I said, shrugging. "I just wondered if he was recovering. I mean, you shot him twice in the chest…"

Stef cleared her throat loudly. "The hospital wouldn't tell me how he is. I'm not family."

"Well, maybe I can-"

Stef shook her head. "No, Callie. I don't want you going anywhere near that man. He's a murderer! Why would you even _want _to after what he did to you and-"

_Jude._

"Never mind," I said quickly. "I'm going to go finish my homework for Timothy's class. We have to write about guilt."

Stef tried to apologize but I turned and ran.

The front door slammed shut behind me as I rushed outside. What was wrong with me? I felt like I was dying inside. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't stop picturing Jude's smiling face as he ran off to school, his Skippy the Turtle backpack bouncing along with him.

Oh my God, was I losing my mind?

"Callie?" a voice called out.

I realized I was bent over with my hands on my knees, breathing heavily. Brandon probably thought I was having a mental breakdown. "I'm fine," I told him as I stood up. Every breath hurt deep inside my chest. So this was what having a panic attack felt like. It kind of sucked.

Brandon frowned at me. "Are you sure you're not still sick? What happened?"

I shrugged and stared at the ground. "Your mom and I had a…disagreement."

"About what?"

I sighed. "Brandon, if I asked you to come with me someplace, would you do it? It's really important."

Brandon nodded immediately. "Sure. Anywhere."

I stared up at him. "You don't even know where it is."

"I don't need to. It's important to you. That's all I need to know," he replied. "I'd follow you into Hell if you asked me."

**X**

"We shouldn't do this," Brandon said as we walked down the hallway of the hospital. "This is an incredibly stupid idea."

"You said you'd follow me into Hell. What, were you just being poetic?"

"No, I meant it. But I didn't think you would come _here. _To visit the man who killed your little brother!"

I felt tears burning my eyes. _Don't cry, _I told myself. _Not here. Not in front of Brandon. _

"Hey, I'm sorry," Brandon apologized, looking embarrassed. "That was a really stupid thing to say.

I blinked back the tears and forced a smile. "Let's just get this over with."

Brandon bit his lip. "You sure about this? What are you going to say to him? He's in a coma."

I nodded. "I need to do this. For Jude."

Brandon squeezed my hand as I opened the door to his room. "I'll be right out here."

I let go of Brandon's hand. I wanted him to hold my hand and promise me everything would be okay. I wanted him to hold me like last night and look at me like I was worth something.

But you have to take some walks alone.

I walked closer to the bed. My foster dad looked so still lying there. I could almost pretend he was dead. But his chest rose and fell, and I knew he was still breathing. Unlike my brother.

"I don't know if you can hear me," I whispered. This was so stupid. This wasn't going to give me closure. "But if you can…I want to talk."

Tyler didn't answer me. He didn't show any signs of hearing me. But I couldn't stop now. I was already here.

"You murdered my brother," I said, louder this time. "You shot him. You were going to shoot me. You took Jude's life. He's gone. He's never coming back."

Tears were falling down my face now, but I didn't care. He couldn't see me cry. "It's not fair. He's dead and you're alive. It doesn't make any sense. Why do _you _get to live?"

I thought I saw his hand twitch, but it was probably my imagination.

I was crying so much I could barely even speak, but I forced myself to finish. "I hope you die," I whispered. He still didn't move. "You deserve it."

Brandon was right. This was a stupid idea. I felt even worse now.

I turned to leave when a hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.


	3. Chapter 3

**Keep up the great reviews! I love reading everyone's opinions! I'm really busy with summer school *insert swear word of choice here* but I'll update again by Wednesday! Enjoy and review! And if you haven't heard the theme song for the show, you should check it out! It's called "Where You Belong" by Kari Kimmel! **

For a moment I was too startled to react. I stood over his bed in shock and stared into his menacing eyes, his hand wrapped around my wrist.

He was too weak to say anything, but he didn't need to. The look he gave me spoke volumes. He was still here. He wasn't going to die. He was going to find me. A smile crept across his pale face.

"Brandon!" I screamed. His was the first name that came to mind.

Brandon ran into the room, saw Tyler's hand on my wrist, and his hands curled into fists.

"Brandon-" I started to say. I didn't want him to do anything stupid. But Brandon was already punching Tyler in the face so hard his eyes rolled back into his head and his tight grip on me loosened.

"Hey! Stop!" a nurse shouted to us. "You can't be in here!"

"We were just leaving," Brandon told her angrily. He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room. I was grateful that he was guiding me down the hallway and back to the elevator, because my feet had forgotten how to work properly.

This had been a huge mistake. I needed to get as far away from this place as humanly possible. My chest felt weird and tight. The cold white walls were closing in on me, trapping me, suffocating me.

Brandon lead me over to a bench outside and held my hand while I tried to remember how to breathe.

"What can I do?" he whispered, his eyes full of concern.

"I need to focus on something else," I told him. "I need a distraction."

Brandon nodded. "Just focus on me. I'm right here, Cal."

His grip was just as tight as Tyler's had been, but for some reason this didn't bother me. Brandon's touch made my skin burn, like he was setting me on fire. And I kind of liked it.

"Did you practice any of the new chords I showed you?" Brandon asked. He was determined to teach me to play the guitar before I was moved to a new foster home.

"Yes," I managed to say. "But it sounded like a strangled duck."

"Come on, I'm sure it wasn't _that _bad. You sounded amazing when we played together."

I blushed and looked away from him. "That was different. I always play better when I'm with you."

"Good. Be my partner in that talent show for your therapy group."

"That's only for foster kids, which _you _are not," I reminded him.

"But you are," he pointed out. "And I missed my last performance because of you and nearly died. You owe me, Callie Jacob."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I guess if I _have _to." But I was fighting a smile all the way home, something I hadn't done in a long time.

**X**

_Up until then, boys were never complicated. Until Liam. _

I groaned and closed my journal. I couldn't concentrate on writing after everything that had happened today! And now I had to learn a whole song to perform with Brandon for my therapy group!

I must have still been high when I agreed to that. It was the only logical explanation.

I picked up my guitar. I didn't want anyone but Brandon hearing me play, and Mariana was in our room, whispering to someone on the phone. Probably Lexi.

"I'd wait until after moms are asleep."

I froze, my hand on the doorknob. I looked back at Mariana. "What?"

"If you're planning on hooking up with Brandon, I'd wait until Stef and Lena are asleep." She shrugged. "Unless you want to get caught."

"Isn't that what _you _want, Mariana?"

Mariana bit her lip and put down the phone. "Look," she said finally, "I'm not going to tell anyone, if that's what you mean. I'm not some spoiled, selfish bitch."

"Really. So you stole your brother's pills and letting him take the fall for you because you're such a _saint?" _

Mariana crossed her arms. "It's not like I got that money for _me! _I was helping my birth mom!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Your birth mom? What, is she a drug dealer? Are you joining the family business?"

"She needed the money," Mariana snapped defensively. "Whatever. I don't know why I'm telling you this. It's not like you care."

I glanced down at the phone in her hand. "Is that who you were talking to just now? Your birth mom?"

"Ana." Mariana nodded. "She wants me and Jesus to meet her boyfriend."

"That sucks. Your mom uses you like an ATM machine, then introduces you to the man she abandoned you for? If it were me, I'd stay the hell away from that woman."

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Mariana snapped. "Whatever. You just don't understand."

"I know what it's like to have a mom who cares more about buying drugs than her own kids," I said. "My mom got addicted after my dad left. She overdosed when I was ten and died."

Mariana looked shocked. "I'm sorry. That sucks."

I laughed. "Yeah. Just be careful, okay? She might disappoint you."

"Callie? You really don't have to worry. I'll keep your secret."

"There's not a secret to keep," I told her. "Brandon and I aren't together. But thanks."

Mariana flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and shrugged. "Too bad. You guys make a cute couple."

**X**

"Hey, you," I said as I knocked on Brandon's bedroom door where he was playing the piano.

Brandon stopped playing and smiled at me. "Hey, did you come for more lessons?"

I held up my guitar. "If you're not busy. I don't want to bother you."

Brandon shut the door behind me. "You could never bother me."

"Um…okay." I sat down on the bed beside him and tried not to think about the last time we'd been alone together like this.

I strummed the few notes I remembered and sighed. "I suck at this."

Brandon put his hand over mine. "If that was true, I never would have given you my guitar. I wouldn't give it just anyone, you know."

My breath hitched in my throat. "Then why did you give it to me?"

Brandon looked into my eyes, holding my gaze with his piercing blue eyes. "Because you're special."


End file.
